Several Russian human rights organizations, with the Moscow Helsinki Group at their head, officially refused to take part in the Regional Congress of Nongovernmental Organizations, taking place in Penza December 4-7. The reason for their refusal was that the co-organizer of the event with the Council of Europe was not another public organization, but the Russian Federation Council. That, according to the human rights activists, showed the Council of Europe’s agreement with Russian government policies.

The RF State Duma is willing to introduce on Friday the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, which will significantly lower the number of cases tried by the jury. The cases of persons accused of committing terror acts, spying, subversive actions, high treason and staging mass riots will be the concern of the ordinary court, where the sentences of acquittal aren’t so frequent.

Specialists predict that dozens of Russian enterprises could be nationalized. On the one hand, this would save them from bankruptcy. On the other hand, the state has never shown itself to be a good property owner or an effective manager.

Interview with Vladimir Igorevich Kozhin, head of the RF President's Business Administration, conducted by Mariya Tsvetkova: "'We Have a Large Business Element' -- Vladimir Kozhin, Head of the RF President's Business Administration".

The State Duma decided not to support a proposed bill that would exempt those earning minimum wage from personal income tax. Russia's minimum wage is currently set at a monthly 4330 rubles (about $160).

According to the All-Russian Central Institute of Public Opinion reports, national values are more popular than leftist ideas in Russia. Based on the recent opinion poll results, more Russians support nationalistic or even extremist ideas than socialist or liberal views.

The introduction of amendments to Russia's Constitution - the first ever since its adoption in 1993 - heralded the beginning of President Dmitry Medvedev-proposed political reform. Experts believe, though, that it was drafted back during Vladimir Putin's presidency.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has approved an action plan listing 55 measures for helping the Russian economy overcome the consequences of the global financial crisis. Its maximal objective is to get the real sector and the financial sector back on their
feet within five months.

Russia will become the first nation with the non-Latin domain. ICANN Corp that manages domain distribution in the Internet accepted yesterday the registration application for Cyrillic domain. The registration of web-sites in Russia will begin in early July and roughly 350,000 sites will probably emerge in two years.

Quite a few foreign law firms expect their business to pick up in Russia and believe that the number of law suits will increase due to the financial crisis. Most attorneys at leading international law firms active in Russia have come to this conclusion.

In Moscow businessmen are no longer able to start a new company or re-register already existing one: Tax Inspection #46, the office with jurisdiction over Moscow, is denying registrations en masse for legal entities.

Interview, special to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, with Sergey Vadimovich Stepashin, chairman of the Russian Federation Comptroller's Office, conducted by Tatyana Panina on September 24, 2008: "The fight against corruption has no sectors; it is a united national front"

If needed, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has been recommended to grant stabilization loans to the banks without any security. VEB will step in to sort out problems of the corporate sector; this bank will receive up to $50 billion from the CBR to refinance the loans. The price of these efforts is no less than 8 percent decline in the government’s foreign exchange assets and potential downgrade of the country’s rating.

Large Russian companies will be able to make arrangements with the Ministry of Finance to postpone tax debt payments. This decision was made at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev on September 18, 2008.

A survey of 250 large Russian companies conducted by Grant Thornton International has shown that the most burdensome tax in Russia is the VAT. Thirty-four percent of the respondents objected to it. In second place was the unpopular profits tax, which 22 percent of respondents objected to. It was followed by the single social tax, with 16-percent disapproval.

Nearly every third Russian has paid a bribe and Moscow is the most corrupt region in Russia, according to the first results of massive research on corruption being carried out by the Public Opinion Fund at the initiative of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Kelly Services has predicted that the number of expats working in Russian companies will decrease in the near future. This prediction is based on a poll of 50 major international companies doing business in Russia. Lawyers tend to agree with the prediction while personnel are more optimistic.

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) focused on the mortgage loans market of the country, ordering banks to report in detail about the quality of given loans, arrears and sources to refinance the credit portfolio. The purpose to attain is to contain the mortgage collapse. After analyzing large-scale failures to settle the loans and the campaign for evicting families from flats bought on credit, the analysts said the local crisis broke out in the country.

The RF Economic Development Ministry has increased upper threshold for 2008 inflation from 10.5 percent to 11.8 percent, RIA Novosti reported Monday with reference to an unnamed source with the ministry.

After nearly six years of 5-percent monthly growth, the industrial output in Russia stepped up 0.9 percent in June to the general astonishment of analysts. The production was stagnant in defense and industrial complex, food and timber industries, oil industry and the industry of construction materials.

Having completed university in just one year, Napoleon Bonaparte (IQ 145) commanded his first army at the age of 27. By 30, he had captured Austria, Spain and Egypt. A more classic example of a 'high potential' would be hard to find. Sadly for Napoleon, the French state did not seemingly employ an enlightened HR director to keep his ambitions in check.

Modern life seems to bring more sources of potential stress with every passing year. It seems that every newspaper front page highlights further reasons to be unhappy. And given that the majority of us spend most of our time at work, companies are realising that ensuring the wellbeing of their staff can add to the bottom line. How can you as an HR practitioner relieve this pressure?

President Dmitry Medvedev announced new tax breaks for small business. Authorities promise to make inspections of small businesses more difficult for officials. The President hopes these measures to lead up to 70% of Russians engaged in entrepreneurial business by 2020.

The speech of Vladimir Putin, candidate for Prime Minister, which he delivered at the State Duma May 8, sheds light on the agenda of the government within a year. The government is most interested in the reform of the stock and financial markets, the efficiency of public spending, and taxation. Preparation for the medical care and education reforms will start no sooner than 2009.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin announced yesterday that, instead of a reduction in VAT, the government will lower the mineral use tax, reducing its collection by 100 billion rubles. In addition, the Finance Ministry has decided against raising the mineral use tax for Gazprom. Sources say those decisions have already been approved by Russian president Vladimir Putin. No decision will be made on lowering the 18-percent VAT until August of this year, which means that a reduction in VAT could not come into effect earlier than 2010-2011. Minister of Economic Development and Trade Elvira Nabiullina was in favor of instituting VAT reduction next year.